by Gwynn White
The crystal vanished.
Saskia picked up a needle and some thread, which she used to seal Katcha’s neck. Job done, she wiped her hands on a clean cloth, dropped it on the table, and looked at Felix. “When you are ready, my lord.”
Felix faced Lynx and Tao. He held a small silver box. “Your Majesty, Your Highness. Despite your complicity in Lady Katcha’s arrest, I understand how distasteful this is for you. But I stress again, it is for your own safety. If the High Council had their way, you would both be dead by now. That is not our emperor’s will. I, too, while a member of the High Council, have my own reasons for wishing you both alive and well. Please, for your own safety, take note of what is about to happen.”
“I am aware that my son gave you somewhat of an introduction to our technology,” he added pointedly to Lynx. “What he didn’t teach you, you will soon pick up.” He held up the silver box. “This is a receiver. It picks up a pulse transmitted from the ice crystal implanted in her neck—in a few minutes, your necks. If you move out of range of the receiver”—Felix walked backward across the room—“the crystal loses contact and . . .”
Violent thrashing on the table riveted Lynx’s attention. Morass had untied Katcha during Felix’s speech. Every hair on Lynx’s body stood as Katcha’s gagged mouth failed to muffle her agonized gurgling. Her body arched and stiffened repeatedly, in the grips of a grand mal seizure. Within seconds, she slumped back onto the table. Her glassy, lifeless eyes rolled back in her head.
Voice shaking with rage, Lynx snarled, “You killed her! A pregnant woman! Why? What had she and her child done to deserve that?”
“Your Highness,” Felix’s imperious voice jarred, clearly choosing to ignore her outburst. “Your turn, if you please.”
“Over my dead body,” Tao snapped. “Or yours, if you try to pull this stunt.”
Felix heaved a long, drawn-out, tired sigh. “I was afraid it would come to this.” He turned to Saskia. “The knockout gas. Throw down a canister.”
Saskia immediately fumbled in her portmanteau as she, Felix, and Morass headed for the door. Before closing it behind them, the priestess pulled the tab and tossed the canister down next to Lynx.
Chapter 19
Axel followed Thorn out of the council tent with Stefan at his side. With no obvious thought for their bare feet, the king set a brisk pace across the stony ground toward another large tent in the middle of the campsite. A flagpole jutted out of the ground next to it. A blue flag, blazing an image of a black and white ostrich, stood at attention in the sharp breeze.
Axel suppressed a smile. Norin was the only vassal state in the empire that dared flaunt its own flag. It was as if the Chenayan Dragon didn’t exist here. He rather liked that.
Thorn opened the tent flap and waved Axel and Stefan into his home. Axel sighed with relief at a nest of cushions on the ground opposite a neatly made up bedroll, large enough for two people. Piles of books, stuffed with markers, waited next to each pillow. Clean but worn leather clothing hung from a rope on the wall next to the bed.
A collection of fine, detailed wildlife paintings hung on the opposite wall, each one signed with Kestrel’s name. Above the bed, in pride of place, was a painting by a different artist of all four of Thorn’s children. Axel’s heart clenched at the sight of Lynx, beautiful with her braids and feathers. Seeing her image here, in her father’s home, made him even more determined to find her and protect her.
“Sit.” Thorn waved at the cushions. He walked to a low table with a clay jug and some mugs. “Mead?”
“Thank you.” Axel groaned as he collapsed down onto the closest cushion. There was nothing to lean against, but just being off his feet was a relief.
Stefan squatted down in the spot next to him. Axel took the mead Thorn offered but didn’t drink until all three men held a mug.
Thorn sat opposite them and fixed Axel with a sharp eye. “To allies.”
Axel noted the slight question mark in the king’s voice. “More than allies. Friends with a common cause—to protect Lynx and to free the world from ice crystals.”
A moment of silent scrutiny, and then Thorn clinked glasses with him and Stefan. “How do you propose we do that, Avanov?”
“Please, call me Axel.” He took a quick sip and rolled the fiery mead around his tongue. Delicious, but with his empty stomach and all the drugs he’d taken, the alcohol would quickly go to his head. He put the mug down. “As soon as I get back to the palace, I will set the search for Lynx in motion.” Hiding his grief, he added, “Back there in the council tent, it struck me that Lynx might be pregnant.”
A thoughtful frown from Thorn. “When I spoke to Lynx, she denied that, but I guess things could have changed since then. His lust was obvious to everyone who saw them together.” That frown deepened into suspicion. “You say you will set a search in motion. That doesn’t sound like you’ll be doing much looking.”
“I suspect my tenure in Cian will be short. As you know, I now carry the title of warlord. Mott gave that to me because I was supposed to be headed to Treven to take command of the invasion force.” Axel paused.
Should he mention the impending invasion of Lapis? If Thorn was to believe his assertion that they were friends, it was all or nothing.
“Actually, my orders were to crush Lapis and then redeploy to Treven.” He ignored Thorn’s startled breath. “As that strategic imperative remains unchanged, there is a fair chance Lukan will dispatch me there as soon as I arrive back at the palace.”
Stefan nodded. “Also, he would not want Axel hanging around, making possible trouble over Lynx. Especially if she is pregnant. He knows Axel will probably shout his mouth off about the Dmitri Curse. That is the last thing Lukan would want.”
“No doubt about it,” Axel said, with barely contained fury. “When I’m done, there won’t be a person in the palace who won’t know about the curse and Lukan’s role in it.”
Thorn wagged a finger at Axel. “Mind he doesn’t kill you.”
It warmed Axel that Thorn cared enough to admonish him. “Not while my father lives. Lukan needs Felix too much to upset him. He is the ice crystal master, after all.”
Thorn nodded. “And if you are sent to Lapis? What then?”
“I will have to devise a plan that enables me to serve two masters—my conscience and Lukan. What that is right now, I don’t know. But Lukan cannot get his hands on the ice crystal mines. No matter the cost, any plan he has to use that ice crystal has to be stopped.”
“Agreed. But your quest to keep your conscience and your emperor happy sounds irreconcilable.” Thorn topped up Stefan’s glass, waved the jug at Axel, and noted he wasn’t drinking. He stood up, poked his head out of the tent, and shouted to someone outside, “Heather, bring us water, bread, and stew.” He turned to Axel. “That should help with what ails you.”
Axel’s stomach grumbled at the very mention of the word stew.
Thorn sat. “I have an envoy in camp from King Jerawin of Lapis. He brought me tidings of the war in Treven. In exchange, I must tell him that his country is in Lukan’s sights.”
A plan to thwart Lukan suggested itself to Axel, and he smiled in anticipation of revealing it. “I suggest one better.” He looked at Stefan. “How many informas do we have here?”
“Mine, and the one that was in your clothing when you were shot.” He pulled two pebble-shaped informas from his pocket.
As if it would be so easy. “Only two. Pity. A third would have been useful.” He nodded his thanks to the server who stepped into the tent.
Tray balanced on one hand, she punched her chest with the other and then placed the food onto a low table between the cushions.
“Help yourself,” Thorn said.
“Don’t mind if I do.” Axel almost fell on the meal. He grabbed a handful of bread and shoved it in his mouth. “Stef, give Thorn a demonstration of how informas work.”
While he ate, Axel listened to Thorn’s exclamations of wonder as Stefan walked him th
rough the basic programs. The man was taking being catapulted into the modern age surprisingly well.
“What do we do with these?” Thorn finally asked, holding up his informa.
Axel put his bowl down on the table with a satisfied sigh. He picked up his mead and took a gulp. “Good stuff, this.” He prodded the informa. “You keep one, and the other is sent to either Jerawin or Chad.” Raised eyebrows from both Stefan and Thorn. “I would have liked to give each of you kings a means of communicating with me, but I can’t.”
“I see. So where do you think Lukan will deploy you? I guess that is the question.” Thorn rubbed the informa thoughtfully, then looked up at Axel. “A risk, it would seem.”
“Treven,” Stefan said with quiet certainty.
Axel turned to him, and so did Thorn.
“I’ve had time on my hands.” Stefan tossed his informa in the air. “I’ve been watching the progress of the war. The situation is dire. Azan was executed before the wedding, and no new warlord arrived to take his place.”
Axel had forgotten that Raklus had issued the order to dispose of his predecessor. “Who’s taking care of operations?”
“Colonel Fedor. One of my men,” Stefan said with a meaningful look at Axel, “but with Chad’s poison gas, the invasion has ground to a halt.”
“What is the significance of who owns the man?” Thorn asked.
“You enter the private realm of friends, sir,” Stefan said. “Axel and I use that term to describe guardsmen who have proved impervious to ice crystal manipulation.”
“There are such men?” Thorn sounded both surprised and hopeful.
“Few in number, yes.” Stefan coughed. “I have managed to gather them to me.”
Sometimes Stefan’s self-deprecation irritated Axel. “It’s more than that. Regardless of rank, they heed what Stefan says. And that is not because they know he has my ear. We used some of them after the shooting to protect Lynx.”
“Then it is surely a good thing that Fedor is in command in Treven?” Thorn looked from Axel to Stefan for confirmation.
“At last the gods smile on us,” Axel replied mockingly.
Thorn glared at him. “The Winds look after their own. It behooves us to believe in them if we seek their goodwill. Remember that, Axel, if you wish to find a welcome here.”
So acceptance in the Norin tribe would bring a new religion? Or rather, a religion, seeing as Axel had never espoused the Dragon. It was a small price to pay.
He smiled at Thorn. “No offense intended.” He added, “It helps that the troops there are mere infantrymen.”
“Are infantrymen no good at waging Chenayan wars?”
“No jasper ice crystals,” Axel explained to Thorn. “That means Lukan and my father can’t program loyalty into their brains. Chenaya uses infantrymen as battle fodder. Expendable because the supplies are almost unlimited.”
“Lovely.” Thorn scowled at Axel in disappointment. “Tell me again why you would want to lead the Chenayan army.”
Axel shot him a derisive smile. “Because leading the Chenayan army puts me in the very best position to protect Norin from ice crystal trackers. Not to mention those almost inexhaustible supplies of infantrymen. And their mothers, and their sisters. Their grandmothers, too, I would suggest.”
He fixed Thorn with a hard gaze. “Let me be quite clear about my intentions. I will never let Lukan and my father get their hands on the Treven ice crystal mines. Without them, they won’t have the supplies they need to tag the many millions of people who live in this empire. That will make Lukan vulnerable.
“I—we, and any other free Nation who cares to join us—will exploit that vulnerability in every way we can. In the end, we will bring Lukan to his knees.” Not caring what Thorn thought about this particular brand of callousness, he added, “And, regardless of what Dmitri thinks on the matter, I will take deep delight in slitting the bastard’s throat.”
Thorn snorted but didn’t hide the slight twinkle in his eye. “King Chad will be pleased he has your support,” he said, with a slightly mocking tone.
“He should be. I intend to throw everything I have at helping him keep his mines.”
“Treven it is, then,” Stefan’s even-toned voice mediated, a sharp contrast to Axel’s fiery one. “I will contact Fedor and let him know of our plans. I know he will give Axel all the help and support he needs.”
Axel smiled in acknowledgment; he had allowed his passion to get the better of him. “Fedor isn’t the only person we need to contact. As soon as I get to Treven, I would like to meet with Chad.” He turned to Thorn. “Do you think you and Jerawin would be able to persuade him that I come in peace? I would hate another round with a quarrel.”
King Thorn stared pensively into his mead cup. “I will send someone, probably Heron, to the Lapisian court with Jerawin’s envoy. Heron can teach the king how the informa works. Then I will speak with him.”
Axel was assailed with doubts. “I don’t want to question your judgment, but is Heron the best choice?”
“That sounds a lot like you are questioning my judgment. What is your problem with Heron?”
“The same problem he has with me. Lynx.”
Thorn sighed. “And yet she is married to Lukan.” A click of his tongue. “You two ostrich cocks must learn to work with each other. You are both too valuable to let your hormones derail things.”
Axel hesitated. “I asked Lynx to marry me. She said yes.” His face softened at the memory. “For a brief moment, she was mine. Then curses, and honor, and oaths, and weddings, and assassins all got in the way.” His expression turned flinty. “Heron better come to terms with the idea that when this is over, Lynx will be my wife.”
A gentle smile from Thorn. “Let’s find her first, son. According to Jerawin’s envoy, the Lapisian king is in regular communication with Chad. The young Trevenite will probably listen to him and agree to a meeting with you. I will certainly push for it.”
Axel couldn’t ask for more. All he now had to do was come up with a plan to present at that meeting—one that would prevent Lukan ever getting his hands on the Trevenite mines, while still allowing Axel freedom to see his sister once the campaign was done. Acceptance as a Norin could never deprive him of Malika’s company. She was far too precious to him to risk that.
Chapter 20
When Lynx again awoke under the glare of the harsh cellar light, her chains were gone. Her hands instantly sought her neck. Stitches and a dull ache greeted her. She swore, first in Norin and then in Chenayan.
“I understand how you feel. They’ve done me, too. But we are still better off than Katcha.”
Squinting against a blazing headache, she looked up to see Tao watching her. He leaned against the moldy wall, his arms resting on his knees. The dullness in his eyes gave away his own headache.
Lynx swallowed. “I’ll never forget her. She was the first person, other than you and Axel, to extend a hand of friendship to me.” She rubbed her throbbing temples, fighting nausea at Katcha’s death. “And it was my pregnancy that got her killed. That’s obviously why Lukan sent her here. As a warning to me.”
“You can’t think like that. Lukan and Felix are responsible. Not you.” Tao sighed. “That doesn’t mean I don’t grieve for her and Lev, though.”
“Lev?”
“Her husband. Good man. I like him.”
“If I ever get out of here, I won’t let her be forgotten. Lukan and Felix will pay. In blood.” Lynx swung around to the door. The old steel one had been replaced with a slab of solid wood and a sturdy padlock.
“No, Lynx,” Tao said. “Not with these things in our necks. We can never escape again. This is it, for life.”
Lynx shook her head, refusing to admit defeat. “How do we know that for sure?”
Tao opened his mouth to speak and then crumpled to the floor, writhing in the same way Katcha had before she died. An involuntary scream, and Lynx shot across the room to help him. But as she touched his arm, a sho
ck of pain juddered through her body.
Hand sparking, she fell back. The shock hadn’t come from her neck, but what else could have caused that agony other than her ice crystal?
The door opened, and Felix stepped into the room holding his receiver. Tao stopped writhing. Limp as a rag, he lay panting on the floor, his face pale and sweaty.
“I hate you!” Lynx snarled at Felix.
She scrambled to her feet, determined to rip him apart, but Morass stepped up next to Felix, armed with a crossbow. He aimed his weapon at Lynx’s heart. Felix slipped his receiver into his pocket.
Lynx wished she understood enough about receivers and ice crystal and electricity to figure what it all meant.
“Come,” Felix said, as if nothing had happened. “It is time to relocate you both.” Cold eyes settled on Lynx. “As much as you may despise the emperor, he has at least some regard for you. He does not wish either you or his brother to be alone.”
If Felix intended to make Lynx feel guilty, he failed.
Chapter 21
Felix and Morass led Lynx and Tao out of the cellar. Two silvery moons cast a glimmer of light over the sagging warehouse. A steam carriage awaited them in the grimy alley, smoke scudding from its stack.
While Morass stood guard with his crossbow, Felix opened the carriage door. He gestured for Lynx and Tao to climb aboard. Lynx scrambled in first and sat on a bench lining one side. In the light cast by one of Felix’s flashlights, she noticed familiar trunks lying on the floor at her feet, but guessed that, this time, Axel’s hand axe hadn’t been included.
